Netanyahu seeks to soothe settlers as storm clouds loom

Fearing political storms at home and a last-ditch diplomatic gambit by US President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called on Jewish settlers to show restraint.

Speaking at the opening of parliament's winter session, he said that government officials earlier on Monday asked the Supreme Court to extend the December 25 deadline for the eviction of settlers from the wildcat West Bank outpost of Amona.

A postponement, he said, would allow a "responsible" resolution to the issue, a hot potato for Netanyahu's right-wing government which leans heavily on settler support.

"I am sure that at the end of the day the settlers will also act responsibly," he added. "They know that there is not, and will not be, a government more supportive of settlement than this government."

It is Netanyahu's zeal for settlement in the occupied West Bank that rankles Washington, and Netanyahu reportedly fears that following next week's US presidential election Obama could break with long-standing US practice and support -- or at least not veto -- a UN Security Council resolution laying out parameters for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"President Obama stated from the podium of the United Nations in 2011 that peace would not be achieved through UN resolutions but through direct negotiations," Netanyahu told the Knesset.

"That is correct. He is right. I want to believe that he will remain faithful to that position and not abandon the traditional policy of the United States."

"In any case, Israel will oppose any external attempt to impose terms upon it."

At the start of Netanyahu's speech, members of the mainly Arab Joint List opposition party rose and left the hall, and his comments were repeatedly interrupted by hecklers.

West Bank settlements are viewed as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

The United States has warned that continued settlement building in the territory occupied by Israel in 1967 is eating away at the possibility of a two-state solution to the conflict.

US Deputy Ambassador to the UN David Pressman used particularly strong language in October 14 remarks, saying that the building of Jewish outposts on Palestinian land was "corrosive to the cause of peace".

Amona, home to about 40 settler families, was built on land privately owned by Palestinians who successfully petitioned Israeli courts for the outpost's removal.